Author's books teach children financial basics

Monday

Robin Yang, certified financial accountant and investment analyst, has written a series of adventure books to teach children the basics of finance.

Robin Yang decided to write her “Enchanted Collar” books after noticing a gap on the bookshelf.

“What I’ve found in financial literacy, there is a bipolar phenomenon — the books available are either picture books for age 6 and younger, or nonfiction for college kids,” Yang said. “In between, from elementary to high school, there is virtually nothing.”

Yang’s solution was to write a series of financial lessons wrapped in an action adventure tale.

“Children younger than senior high don’t like nonfiction books, so if I did that it would sit on the shelf and collect dust,” Yang said.

Thus we meet Eli, a pup who learns he is the son of the martyred Wolf King, and sets off on a quest to find and rescue the financially failing wolf kingdom. He and the traveling companions he picks up along the way face many dangers, from would-be kidnappers to knife-wielding bank robbers.

“The plot line is very intense. The (readers) want to know what happens next, and in that process they learn they should save, they should budget and so on,” Yang said.

After 13 years in the finance field, including time at an investment bank, Yang said she realized the way to prevent another economic crisis was through education.

“I decided we needed to promote financial and emotional literacy — they are intertwined. A lot of time, financial decisions are emotional decisions,” she said. “That’s why teaching through story telling is more effective — it’s teaching through emotions.”

Her first stab at story telling, “Economic Story Tales,” was aimed at adults. To her chagrin, Yang found that the only folks who enjoyed the books were those who didn’t need it.

“People without financial problems got it, found it funny. The people who had problems didn’t like the stories at all,” she said. “I realized that once bad money habits are set, they’re impossible to change. You have to start early.”

Yang hopes parents will read her "Enchanted Collar" books with their children.

“A study by Charles Schwab found that 50 percent of parents are more comfortable talking about the subject of sex than the subject of money,” Yang said. Our financial follies become hereditary.

Advice for parents can be found on Yang’s forum at enchantedcollar.com/blogs.

So far, Yang has published five books in the series, each tackling a specific financial issue, and more are in the pipeline. The paperback books, each with a few illustrations, are available at most online bookstores for $8-10.

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